Dear Brethren and Friends,
It is by the grace of God that Tabernacle BP Church is having our 26th Thanksgiving Anniversary today. We want to give all praise and glory to our Almighty God who led us through all these 26 years with His unfailing mercy and goodness. We echo the words of the Psalmist from our hearts, “O GIVE thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever” (Psalm 136: 1). Indeed if the Lord has not been on our side, we will have perished and fallen away long ago. 26 years is not a short time and many people have come and left our Church but the Lord has never left us nor forsaken us.
Anniversary is a time to reflect our relationship with God and to search our hearts before Him. As a Church, have we obeyed the Lord in the Great Commission to preach the Gospel near and far; have we loved one another as the Lord loves us; have we earnestly contend for the Faith? As an individual church member, have we been faithful and zealous in serving the Lord? We must repent of our sins and pray to the Lord for renewal of a right spirit before Him. The Lord Jesus’ coming is near and we must hasten and labour even harder in these last days.
Anniversary is a time to call upon the Name of the Lord for His spiritual blessings and guidance upon us. Pray for the Lord to lead Tabernacle in another year ahead and to provide us a pastor according to His will and time. Pray for God to enable us to reach out to more souls and to add to our Church daily such as should be saved. Also, pray that the Lord will use us to be a channel of blessing to others. The Church session covets your prayer too for strength and wisdom. Let us always pray without ceasing to call upon the Name of the Lord.
Anniversary is a time to recite the history of our Church so that God’s Name is glorified in His leading in each step of the way. Our history started in 1976 when the Lord used a school teacher in Tanglin Technical secondary school to start Tanglin Bible Class for about 6 students who just trusted Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour. The Bible Class was blessed by God and grew in number. It was later affiliated to Life BP Church and became known as Life Bible Class.
In 1986, the leaders of Life Bible Class have a desire to launch out to form a new BP Church. The first place chosen was in the West area outside NTU. However God directed our path otherwise and led us to the East at Tampines in a warehouse for our worship. Rev Timothy Tow gave our Church the name “Tabernacle” with the “T” reminding us of our origin in Tanglin Bible Class and like the tabernacle in the wilderness, we must be on the go always for the Lord. By God’s grace, we started our first worship service in the Tampines warehouse on 28 June 1987 at 4pm.
Finally, I want to thank all members in Tabernacle who have contributed in many ways to the growth of the Church. The Lord bless your labour of love as many of you have served quietly and faithfully all these years. Let us live for the Lord and make our lives count for Him!
Elder John Leong